


On the Spot

by StrangeBrooch



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, Jamie's confused about how the future works, M/M, Marriage Proposal, and thinks he's gotta act on it immediately, but not in a period-typical homophobia kinda way, coda to a non-existent episode, he's just a little surprised about marriage equality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26622829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeBrooch/pseuds/StrangeBrooch
Summary: On a starship in the future, The Doctor, Jamie, Polly, and Ben have saved the day again, and it's time to go on to the next adventure. But before they can leave, Jamie has a question for the Doctor - and while it may not be the ideal time to ask, he'll be damned if he's going to let them take off from the first place he's ever met two men married to each other without talking to the Doctor in earnest.
Relationships: Second Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	On the Spot

As the four time travelers made their way down to the lower decks of the starship where they’d left the Tardis, Jamie lagged behind his friends, his thoughts set on the task ahead of him.

Over the last several months – though to Jamie, it already felt more like a lifetime – he had traveled with the Doctor, Ben, and Polly to places far more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined, and even in the face of all those strange, new wonders he had never really hesitated to ask a question before. In fact, he'd caught Ben and Polly looking relieved that he had gone ahead and said what they were too embarrassed to admit they didn’t understand one more than one occasion.

He considered it one of his better qualities, and he had recently learned a great many things this way - he now knew about trains and gravity and wristwatches, about germs and robots and at least five different smelling shampoos Polly had introduced him to in an effort to get him to stop using hers.

The Doctor had told him once, encouragingly, that there were no stupid questions. Jamie tended to agree with him on that much, but he also thought it should be noted that there were plenty of stupid situations and sometimes, some very stupid timing. Take now for instance - he thought the question he had was actually a very good one, and the problem was simply that it deserved better circumstances than this.

But one of the other things Jamie had learned while travelling with the Doctor was that they never stuck around for very long after their job was done, and since he also knew the Doctor would probably be hopeless at trying to land the Tardis in this time zone again, he had to ask now.

He reminded himself that he also _wanted_ ask now too, that he’d been certain of what he wanted as soon as he’d understood it was an option. Somehow, he wasn’t even terribly worried about what the Doctor would think of the question itself – he didn't know where that confidence came from, exactly, but it just made so much sense to him, he couldn’t imagine someone as clever as the Doctor not understanding too. And, after all, asking a person something like this always put them on the spot a bit, there was no avoiding that - it was just the part where he'd be asking him to carry through with it right then and there that was the trouble. Jamie was pretty sure that even in the future, people didn’t usually ask right before they were supposed to take off in a time machine and possibly lose their chance forever.

He hoped that wouldn’t spoil things. He’d spent most of the last few days helping Mark and Lev in their laboratory, and they had given him the idea in the first place, but he didn’t get the sense that they had been half so pressed for time as he was now, and Ben and Polly clearly couldn’t relate, given how much they seemed to be taking their time about it. Still, for him it was now or never, and he’d have to be mad to let a chance like this pass him by.

When they reached the room the Tardis was in Jamie was still at the back of the group. Just as Ben and Polly started to disappear into the time machine, he caught the Doctor by the elbow.

"Eh, Doctor, could I just . . . could I talk to you for a second, before we leave here?" He said it loud enough that the others weren’t likely to come out and look for them, but that was about as far ahead as he’d managed to plan.

The Doctor looked mildly surprised, but patient as ever, he nodded and allowed Jamie to walk him over to a kind of bench set into the wall of the cargo hold where they had landed. They sat down side by side, and Jamie turned to face the Doctor, putting an arm on his shoulder and leaning over conspiratorially, although he didn't bother whispering in the empty room.

"Right, so," Jamie cleared his throat and tried to find the right way to explain himself. It had been eating away at the back of his mind ever since he'd found out about the scientists they’d befriended, bothering him enough that he'd firmly made up his mind to talk to the Doctor about it, but now that the time had come to do so, he realized he hadn't figured out _how_ to say it. "I'm sorry if it feels like I'm bringing this up in a hurry, I don't mean to rush it but you know how unpredictable the Tardis can be--" Jamie paused very slightly, half expecting the Doctor to cut him off to defend his old machine, but the Doctor was for once silent, too interested in finding out what Jamie meant. It only made him more nervous. "So I, I thought it would be best if, while we're still here, I went ahead and asked anyway, just to, you know, take advantage of the opportunity - and maybe, maybe I _am_ rushing, or I don't understand it right, and if I am, I'm sorry, but, you can tell me and I won't be hurt, honestly I won't--"

"Jamie," the Doctor said, his voice low and dear as it often was when he spoke his companion's name, "I don't know what's got you so jumpy all of a sudden, but I assure you, you can be perfectly honest with me, you know." Jamie did know. The Doctor's light eyes bored into him, inquisitive but respectful, waiting for him to come out with it. Before he met the Doctor, Jamie hadn't known that someone could look at him like that, in a way that made him feel both so exposed and so safe, but he loved it. He steeled himself, and nodded.

"Right then. Well, this isn't how I'd have liked to have asked, mind, but seein' as we've landed in a place where it's allowed, I was thinking, well, I was wondering if _you_ might want to get married - to, to me, I mean." And there it was. Once it was out he found himself surprisingly calm. Anxious to hear how the Doctor would respond, of course, but certain, somehow, instinctively, that even if he'd made a complete idiot of himself, the Doctor would be as good about it as he always was when Jamie said something foolish or came to the wrong conclusions.

For his part, the Doctor was quite nearly stunned. He had never, in all his years, been proposed to by anyone - at least, not so directly. And the fact that it was Jamie - young, human Jamie with all his life and love and vitality, offering himself so openly to a silly old time lord like himself - well, it was enough to break both his hearts. But as he looked at Jamie, staring at him with wide, trusting eyes, they swelled again and knitted themselves back together, and the Doctor thought he knew in that moment what it might feel like to be human, to burn so brightly, so briefly across the skin of the universe with your hearts breaking and bursting simultaneously every instant that they beat. But Jamie was so lovely, so kind, and trusted him so much, the Doctor had to make sure he handled this properly, whatever his own feelings might be.

Jamie hadn't noticed he'd been fidgeting with the hand not still on the Doctor's arm until the Doctor took hold of it in his own to soothe him.

"Jamie," he began, smiling, "I can't tell you how flattered I am - and how relieved, to find out that's all that's got you worried like this--"

"I'm sorry, I just didn't know any better way to ask, before we fly away and leave again."

The Doctor nodded, contemplative. "I understand, if anything, it's really quite sweet that it mattered so much to you for you feel you had to bring it up like this, but then again, you do always care so much . . ." he trailed off, looking down, and Jamie had to duck his head to try and meet his eyes.

"So, uh, do you think you'd want to then? Get married? I mean, while we're here," he added casually, attempting an abortive shrug and wondering if he was striking a good balance between sounding serious and nonchalant with his marriage proposal. The Doctor was clearly deep in thought, but Jamie couldn't tell what it was he was thinking at all, so he sat quietly and waited for him to explain.

"I'm trying to, ah, find the best way to put it. I apologize if I'm a bit rough on my understanding of different Earth cultures and relationships, I do my best, you know, but social things like this are so delicate, and vary considerably--"

"It's alright if you don't want to, if I misunderstood--"

"No, no, I, ah, I wouldn't say that. At least, I don't think in the way you mean. And there's nothing wrong with a quick, ah, proposal - especially since I realize that in your time, in the middle of that war, you probably didn't always have the luxury to take time for lengthy overtures but - well, when time permits, isn't it . . . slightly customary for there to be at least a bit of a display of romantic interest, before the engagement - or the marriage - actually occurs?"

"Aye, so it is, Doctor," Jamie agreed, somewhat confused that the Doctor needed to state the obvious in this way. He'd caught Jamie distractedly watching Mark and Lev while they were all working in the laboratory yesterday, after Jamie had already found out that they were married, and the Doctor, amused, had coolly explained that in the future, the grounds for marriage were perhaps focused more on romantic interests than Jamie might be used to, rather than the pressure of keeping a lineage going or anything like that – so if he already knew Jamie understood that part, why bring it up now? "What are you getting at?"

"Well," the Doctor began again, gesturing in the manner he usually did when explaining some complicated technical process, but it couldn't help him clarify anything this time. "Well, a proposal or a wedding might happen suddenly, when the time becomes right, that much I understand – but isn't it typical for the, ah, couple to be, well, romantically involved to some degree beforehand?" When Jamie continued to look at him blankly, the Doctor sighed and began to list a few examples. "I realize, certain things were considered too familiar to occur before a betrothal, at least, they might be considered improper for unmarried parties to partake in--"

"Oh, aye, I see," Jamie said, nodding sagely, "you're talking about kissing and going to bed together and all that."

The Doctor blushed, if only because Jamie had not. He focused on Jamie and tried his best to explain as precisely as he could. "Well, not necessarily, there are certainly other ways a person can show their interest - smaller, less specific things. Just being around for one another, looking out for each other and caring for them - you know, when you keep someone very close, you foster a sort of bond of trust and affection, and then even if it goes unspoken, it’d still come out in little ways - going places together, or, or not going anywhere at all and just spending time alone together, maybe. Maybe holding hands, or--" he stopped short as they both glanced down to where their hands were laced together in the Doctor's lap. His other hand was resting familiarly on Jamie's neck, though when exactly it had gotten there neither of them had noticed. They were very used to touching without thinking about it by now.

"Aye, Doctor, you were saying?" Jamie prodded, trying not to sound too pleased with himself but failing slightly as he raised an eyebrow impishly. The Doctor’s brows dropped down in thought, as the realization dawned. He'd always known Jamie was something of a gentleman, but coming from when he did the Doctor hadn't bothered to assume his chivalry would extend beyond the courtesies he demonstrated toward women. Now though, he realized - Jamie would never have been too forward, wouldn't have made advances he thought were indecent, but that didn't mean he hadn't shown any interest at all, like the Doctor had thought. They were close, _very_ close, and maybe Jamie hadn't been so off-base in connecting their relationship with the married couple that sparked this line of thought.

"Oh yes, I see now," the Doctor admitted, catching up. Jamie grinned, pleased to be the one ahead this time.

"Does that mean . . ?" he started to ask again, but didn't want to risk anything by pushing too hard.

The Doctor cleared his throat again, seeming to come to a decision. "Jamie," he began, and then needed to start again, softer this time, "my dear, dear, Jamie. I would be absolutely honored to be married to you - in fact, I'm not sure if there's anything in the world that could make me happier."

"Nor me, Doctor, honestly, you've no idea how--"

"But not now, Jamie. Not here."

"Eh? Why not? What's wrong with here? Here's where they'd let us, that's the whole point!"

"I think you'll be pleased to know that in the whole history of the universe there are far more places that would allow us to marry one another than would not. It's my fault I didn't tell you about the idea sooner, I didn't realize that you might be interested--"

"Of course I'm interested, Doctor, I only just went and proposed to you, didn't I?"

"I know that now Jamie, and I am thoroughly delighted by your intentions. But I also know you only just found out about this, and well, I'd hate to think we rushed into it just because you were afraid it'd be our only chance."

Jamie thought it was a little unfair of the Doctor to put his finger right on it like that, especially when it was still a valid concern. Sure, he’d been worried about what to say before they’d started talking, but now he was sitting with the Doctor and holding his hand, and he was fairly certain they were more or less in agreement, so what could possibly be wrong? "But it could be, couldn’t it? Because there's no telling where we'll end up next. Who's to say it won't be back even before my time, when marrying people was all about livin’ in a house and havin’ bairns instead of just happenin’ to want to spend the rest of your life with a person?"

The Doctor had to focus very hard not to get caught up dwelling on how lovely it was to hear Jamie say things like that as if it were the most natural thing in the world, so he contented himself with brushing his thumb over the back of Jamie’s hand as reassuringly as he could. "Then we can wait until the next time we _do_ land somewhere hospitable to the idea. There's really no shortage of times or places where it's possible, you know. And I couldn't go ahead feeling like I'm taking advantage of how eager you are, I need to know that you've had time to think it over, to know you'd really be happy with it."

"But I _am_ happy with you, Doctor, I didn't need to come to the future and meet a pair of husbands to realize that. I've known how I feel about you and that I want to stay with you forever for a long time now, and then we happened to land here and I learned that people like that go ahead and get married, so it only makes sense that we should do it too. I mean, if you feel the same, that is. Which, I thought you did?"

"Of course I do, Jamie, wholeheartedly. I'd ask if you knew how very much I adore you, but clearly you do, and I'm the only one who didn't realize how obvious I've been."

"Aye, well, you have a lot of distractions with all your tinkering and science stuff and all the trouble you get us into exploring alien worlds, but at the end of day it's plain enough to see, so how could I not notice? I love you too, in case you still need telling," he added, cheekily.

The Doctor beamed back at him, automatically. "I love you too, my dear."

"You already said that," he pointed out, failing to suppress a grin.

"And evidently it bears repeating," the Doctor insisted firmly, pressing his hand with conviction, but breaking into a soft smile around the eyes. "I should think I shall repeat it quite a lot now. But we have a _time machine_. I'd feel so much better knowing you had time to think all this over--"

"I have had time, though," Jamie reassured him, gently. "I found out Mark and Lev were married two days ago and it's been another day since you explained to me about how marriages worked in this century." The Doctor had to laugh a little at how confident Jamie was that this was more than enough of time.

"I think two of your three days there are in fact the same day, love."

"Och, what's the difference?” Jamie huffed, tossing his hands up in frustration, kicking his feet out a little and slumping against the back of the bench. The Doctor wished he had a better word for his display of melodrama than adorable, but his vocabulary was failing him. “It's still long enough to get the point. I've known how I've felt about _you_ for ages, it's just these different soci-cultural whatever they were like you said that I had to catch up on."

"And again, I'm quite flattered that you're so firm on the matter. Still, I'd like to know that my _husband_ , if, indeed, that's what you are to be-" the Doctor paused for a moment, enjoying how Jamie blushed a little at how very eager he was to hear himself referred to that way, before he took pity on the boy and went on, "that my husband married me because out of all the options in the world he still wanted to, _not_ because he thought my driving was so bad I'd never manage to get us to another respectable wedding venue."

"Well, no worries on your husband's bit, then, but as for the driving, that remains to be seen."

"And you're happy having so little faith in _your_ future husband?"

"Aye, I am.” He smiled contentedly, a hint of surprise at just how satisfied he was creeping into his otherwise even voice. He caught the Doctor's gaze and held it, serious as he made his promise, “I don't need you to be any better at anything, or to do anything different, I know I'm not going to change my mind no matter how long we take. We can wait. If it means so much to you, Doctor, then I'm happy to do that too. As much as I'd like to be married, I don't think having it done and over with is the most important thing - I'm just glad I found out about it and asked when I did, who knows how long it would've taken _you_ to bring it up on your own."

"Yes, well, you're quite right there again, Jamie," the Doctor said, nodding in agreement before deciding that even though his husband might not _ask_ him to do better, he could always give it a go himself. "And, if you're really so keen to start, well, we aren’t in 1746 anymore, you know. We don't _have_ to wait for everything all at once. We could always get a jump on things, no matter how long it takes us to find somewhere to make it official. Then we'd be able to take our time - we have all the time in the universe, after all. We could go slowly, ease into it."

"How exactly do you mean?"

"Well, I mean-- Since we do seem to be formally betrothed now, Jamie, would it be alright if I were to kiss you?"

"Oh, did you really think I was agreeing to wait heaven knows how long to marry you and not ask to kiss you before then?"

"Well, the way you broached the subject, I thought you might consider it all part and parcel--"

"Honestly, and you think _I'm_ old-fashioned."

"Is that a yes, then?"

"Aye, Doctor, it's a yes." He brought his hand up to the side of the Doctor's head but didn't pull him any closer just yet, brushing a thumb over the lines that creased his forehead. "And as a matter of fact, I think I can come up with a few more things we can look into while we're waiting - of course, as long as they don't offend your delicate sensibilities, that is."

"No Jamie, somehow I don't think that they will."


End file.
